87 | Financial Space and Mindful Spending with Germaine Foley

Are you ready to take control of your finances without giving up the things you love? In our latest episode, I speak with Germaine Foley, a certified life and money coach, who shares her journey from $200,000 in debt to financial freedom. Germaine's unique approach focuses on mindful spending and financial organization, allowing you to build wealth while still enjoying life. 

Join us as Germaine discusses the importance of taking 100% responsibility for your financial situation. She emphasizes that while circumstances and past decisions may have contributed to your current state, you have the power to change your future. This mindset shift is crucial for anyone looking to regain control over their finances. 

She also delves into the emotional aspects of money management including shame, guilt, and anxiety. By addressing these emotions and changing the narratives we tell ourselves, we can make more intentional and empowered financial decisions. And as we head towards the holiday season, Germaine offers valuable tips for mindful spending.

Tune in now for actionable advice, inspiring stories and learn how you can build wealth and enjoy life at the same time. 

And join me as I extend an open invitation to you—to be part of the "100 Hours of Listening" initiative. Whether you're a friend, past client, silent listener, or a fellow professional, your voice matters. This isn't a sales pitch or a consultation; it's an opportunity for you to be heard, without cost or obligation, in a non-judgmental space.

Book a session here, come as you are.

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Transcript

Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing An Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer, and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast will go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.

Amelia: Welcome to Episode 87, "Financial Space and Mindful Spending with Germaine Foley." Germaine Foley is a certified life and money coach for women who make good money but aren't effectively accumulating wealth. She helps them take charge of their finances and build wealth without losing the freedom to travel and buy nice things. 

Germaine came to this work because she found herself in over $200,000 worth of debt and with very little savings, even though she had a really good income. She figured out how to build wealth and enjoy life at the same time and now teaches others how to "do both," build wealth and enjoy life at the same time.

Amelia: So welcome to the podcast Germaine.

Germaine: Thank you, I'm so happy to be here.

Amelia: So you and I, we met through our shared coaching community and I'm excited to be chatting with you because you have an incredible personal story around financial freedom. So I'd love for you to tell folks a little bit about yourself.

Germaine: Absolutely. So hello everyone and thanks Amelia for having me here. I'm so excited again. My name is Germaine Foley. I am a certified life coach and a certified financial education instructor. And yeah, my story is that my money just used to be a hot mess and I was able to turn everything around and I did it in a way that wasn't very traditional. You know, there's a lot of talk out in the world that in order to build wealth, you just have to, you know, put yourself on this really strict budget, cut out your lattes, stop shopping so much, stop doing all the things, and then you can build wealth. 

And I just couldn't, my husband and I, we just couldn't fathom living like that for such a long period of time, because we had over $200 ,000 worth of debt that we wanted to pay off. And with that, we said, no, we can't do it that way. And so I went on a journey to figure out how we could build wealth and still enjoy our lives at the same time. And so yeah, and that's my mission now. Once I figured it out, I was just like, my gosh, I have to share this. Cause I know so many other women probably were, you know, they're like I was and they don't know this. So here I am.

Amelia: So good. I love it because it really is you having worked through this issue yourself and then teaching and sharing all the information, which is just so much more relatable for folks. And of course, we don't want it to be restrictive and we're gonna dive into that here in a little bit. So I love to start all of my conversations by asking: What did organization, whatever that might mean for you, look like during your childhood?

Germaine: Yes. So organization in the Thurman household was all about being neat and tidy and clean. That's what it was. So it really was just about making sure everything looked clean. So as long as my room was clean, I was fine. But I cleaned my room by stuffing things in my closet and under my bed. 

Amelia: That's awesome.

Germaine: Yeah, so it's funny now that I think about it, I'm like, I had no idea where anything was. I was just stuffing things in the closet and that really wasn't being organized. But that's kind of how I grew up thinking that as long as it was clean and tidy on the outside, then that was organized. So there we go.

Amelia: That's great because it really is like you knew the result that was expected, right? You knew the standard, you knew the expectation and the strategy you were like, “This is what I'm gonna do. This is how I'm gonna figure it out.” Awesome, no special skills needed, just tuck it away. Yeah, I mean, I will say that I would see that in my household too, if we looked under the covers and behind the doors. 

So, well, it's like a perfect segue into our conversation because lots of us grow up in an environment where finances are either hidden away or we're hush-hush or somehow we kind of picked up that finances were quote unquote "complicated." 

And these days, there's very little financial education and literacy taught in schools. Everything is electronic, which leads to money feeling less tangible or real. So naturally, money often feels out of our control. It feels like some people understand it and make it work for them, then the rest of us who feel like our bank accounts are just kind of one big cluttered mess. 

So I'd love to know kind of how you help women pause, reflect and shift into a more organized and simplified relationship with budgeting and money?

Germaine: Yes. So the first thing I would say is that you kind of hit the nail on the head. A lot of us think that our finances are outside of our control and that is not true. And once you can just grab hold of that and kind of take, I teach a concept called "Take 100 % responsibility, no matter what." I mean, I'm sure, you know, there have been circumstances and there's been things that have happened

in your life that helped contribute to where you are today. But if we can't take 100% responsibility, then we're left to blame outside things. And when we blame, we have no power, we have no control. But when you can say, actually, where I am is just a result of some circumstances, some ways of thinking and some actions, and I can change these things. That's the first thing. And then,

The second thing is really adopting what I call a do both mindset because Fidelity Investments did a money mindset study and it showed that 76% of women think that in order to build wealth, they'll have to give up the things they love. And of course, if we're walking around thinking that we're just like, "I'll think about my money later. I'm going to live life now. I don't have time." You know, they avoid money. We don't look at it.

And so my job is to say, "Hey, no, actually you're in control and you can actually do both. You can build wealth and enjoy life at the same time. Now are you in?" And most people are like, "Yeah, I'm in, let's do it." Because that same study found that most women want to manage their money. They want to build wealth, but they just feel like in order to do so, they'll have to just live this boring frugal life. So yeah.

Amelia: Yeah, that's great because it speaks to that deeper desire that we don't always often give ourselves a chance to honor and recognize, right? Like, I want some measure of control. I want some measure of understanding. I want to be a boss about the dollars in my account or investments that I might have. But yeah, I can totally see how when we're thinking that it's not even possible or out of our control that we would just turn away. So I love that “do both” kind of mindset and I'm sure there are strategies and skills that you teach around that.

Germaine: Yeah, and I can share a couple of them right now. So to me, the "do both" mindset means that you're going to just make a decision that I'm going to build wealth and I'm going to figure out how to enjoy my life at the same time. 

So here's the caveat. Playing your life doesn't mean you spend on any and everything without regards to your financial goals, right? I think some people think that, I just want to be able to just do what I want when I want without thinking. And truly, if you did that, then you would stop yourself from being able to build wealth. 

So I teach people how to really get clear on what's most important to them in life so that they can spend money on those things and build wealth with the rest of the money instead of just letting the money impulsively leave your life through retail therapy and using your money to make yourself feel better. We use our money for intentional things. Like maybe you might discover that family happiness is one of your values. And through that, you wanna take a nice vacation every year with the entire family. Okay, let's plan for that to happen. And then let's also invest.

Or pay off some debt, like you can do both, that's what it is. So you figure out what your values are and then you set some financial goals and you start working towards both of those at the same time.

Amelia: So good because it really helps folks understand kind of the story behind their family, that values -based mindset, and kind of, I like to think of it as like the mission or goal for our particular family unit and what's most important. And we forget to kind of pause and have those conversations. 

So kind of building on that, I'm sure there are common emotions that you help folks understand and navigate potentially like shame or guilt. And I think they're there whether we admit it to ourselves or not. For example, you mentioned like there's the rush that we have when we find something that we like or we think that we need. And then later on, there's another wave of emotions that comes pouring in. 

So talk to me a little bit about the emotional aspect of your work and how increasing emotional tolerance shows up when it comes to mindful spending, as you were mentioning and kind of keeping the things that you love without that heaviness of shame or guilt.

Germaine: Yes. So that reminds me of a client I was just coaching recently where she had, she's building a business. So she used some credit card debt to get some exposure for her business. There was an opportunity and she said yes. And she put it on a credit card and she's feeling a lot of anxiety around this debt. She's also feeling some shame. And when we dug deep to see where the shame was coming from, also the anxiety, but really the shame.

It was coming from what she heard growing up from her father, that you should never live beyond your means. And she was correlating like, because I went into debt, I'm living beyond my means. And that is something that my father said I should never do. And so we were able to really work through that to see, see, it's not the credit card debt that's causing you the shame. It's the story that you're telling yourself about this debt. It definitely makes sense why you're telling yourself that story, because you grew up hearing this. And so we really had a wonderful conversation. 

She had a great realization. And once she was able to kind of let that shame go, we also were able to work through the overwhelm and the anxiety and the urgency. Like I got to get it paid off, because if there's no shame, if you're no longer telling yourself these stories, then could we then pause and you're going to pay it off because that's one of your goals, but we don't have to rush in such a way that you're going to cause other issues on the back end. Right. And so, yeah, it was such a powerful realization for her. And that is the kind of work we do because we think it's just dollars and cents and budgeting and, you know, saving and investing, but it's so deeper, so much deeper than that.

Amelia: Which is where the mindset and the financial literacy really kind of intersect. And I think that this is really kind of pertinent because again, when we talk about our childhood, when we talk about our background, all of us have collected these stories and understandings about the way that money should operate or function in our lives. 

And it can have some consequences, right? And influence how we spend or how we think about money. And I love the work that you do and help clients with because it really is a bit of untangling and unlearning so that folks can shift into that kind of more peaceful, more intentional mindset where shame and guilt aren't necessary, right? We can see that it is a choice, we can see that it is a purposeful choice, and that it's going to lead us towards the result that this particular client was going after.

Germaine: Yes, so good. And she was just like, "My God, this is so good." And it was like a weight just dropped off of her shoulders because it's like, I don't have to beat myself up about this debt. I can, and I can still pay it off. you can, sometimes we think we have to have these, you know, reasons to pay it off that are negative, like shame, overwhelm, but you can pay it off in a very…

How do I wanna say it? In a very cool, calm and collected way, right? It's not that you have to have these negative emotions to drive you. You can still just decide this is the life I wanna live. I don't wanna have credit card debt. I'm going to pay it off, but I'm also not gonna beat myself up about the choices that I made.

Amelia: You're deciding in advance how you're going to treat yourself along with those spending choices, right? So, so good because I mean, to be fair, so many of us have negative connotations around the word debt as a whole. I'm sure that's a whole like topic within your Wealthy Woman's Academy, which we'll get into here in a moment. 

So I think that what a majority of folks are seeking is often financial space or the power of choice that, you know, when it comes to your bank account or your investments. And honestly, I think it's the theme within the organizing and productivity industry.

Folks desire less stuff, more time, and more help. They want the space to breathe and the power to choose what their days look and feel like. Yet, when we offer solutions like making a decluttering plan or setting boundaries or creating a daily routine, when those are offered, folks sometimes kind of bristle at the work because it sounds really restrictive. 

And one thing that you're excellent at in terms of finances, like I'd love to hear even more like the kind of strategies that you help with folks to create that space and power of choice so women don't feel so restricted.

Germaine: Yes. So one of the first things after we figure out your values and we figure out your financial goals is I have my clients do a spending audit and everybody is always like, my goodness. You know, they're a little reluctant because it's like, you're going to look at what you've been doing with your money. And I coach them on the fact that this is just data. We're just gathering data. We're not making judgments about ourselves. We're not beating ourselves up about those choices. We just want to see, because once we can see where the money has been going, then we can tell it where to go in the future. And so... Yes.

Amelia: I just want to pause here and say what immediately comes to my mind is all those items when you were talking about in the beginning, your childhood that you were stuffing in the closet and under the bed, right? 

We just want to see what we're stuffing into our bank account and into the margins.

Germaine: Yes! Yes, that's exactly what we're doing. We're just peeking. We're just looking and we're not judging. And it is the most empowering thing. As soon as they come back, they're like, "My God, I'm so glad I did this. I feel so much better." A lot of times they're finding things that they're spending money on that they didn't even know they were spending money on. I know you did an episode recently about like subscriptions and things like that…

They get to make new choices, they just get to see. And sometimes they're pleasantly surprised to know, "Wow, it's not as bad as I've been thinking." So that's the very first thing. And once we are able to do that spending audit, we know where everything's going. We know how much is coming in. It's just, there's no secrets anymore. There's no guessing. And that in itself is just such a...

It just frees up so much mind space and it feels so good. Everybody loves it afterwards. They're a little scared before. Yes.

Amelia: It feels like a deep breath to me, right? Like scary at first, and then you're like, "Okay, I did that."

Germaine: Yes, that is perfect. That's a perfect description of it. And then from there, we can create a very simple system for your money. I call it the three bucket system. The first bucket is going to be to take care of all of your necessities, your household, everything you need to spend money on to make your household go. That comes out of one bucket and it's actually a bank account. 

And then, bucket or bank account number two is your own personal spending money to do whatever you want with. No restrictions, no nothing. You give yourself, the only thing that's restricted or decided ahead of time is the amount for a time period. But other than that, you get to do whatever you want with that money. 

And then the third bucket or bank account is a high yield savings account where you're always saving. You're always putting some money aside so that you can have plenty of liquid cash available to you for when life happens. 

And don't think of it that way. Like, okay, and the household account, you're really never swiping that debit card. You're not doing much with that. It's just money that's sitting there. So you don't have to worry about what's coming out. It's like, nope, you know, and nobody's using that account for anything else. And then you get to have fun with your spending account. And then you know that you're saving. You know that you're doing smart things with your money as well.

Amelia: Love it. It's so organized and streamlined. 

And for me, there's always friction and for clients, right, around the decision making. And that's what I hear you've taken away with this three bucket system. There's no need to repeatedly make decisions or question whether there's enough money in that household account because you know through working with you exactly how much you need to cover your expenses each month. 

And then there's no friction or decision making around the savings because you've decided that in advance. And then there's so much kind of freedom and flexibility and choice with that personal spending account.

Germaine: Yes, you hit it right on the head. One of the things we want to eliminate is decision fatigue. Because when you're constantly having to make decisions about your money, you're using willpower. And willpower is a very limited resource. And once it goes away, it's all about, it's a free for all, right? You start just making decisions that are not based on your long-term well-being. They're more instant gratification.

I'm focused and when you can sit down, I teach my clients to sit down during the last week of the month to decide what's going to happen the following month. And once you do this a couple of times, it really becomes almost automated where you're not having to spend too much time, but you still want to sit down during the last week of the month and think about your money. You only have to think about it once and then just execute and follow through with what you said you would do the following month.

That's where a lot of my coaching comes in. Cause you do have to follow through with that plan because making the plan can sometimes be the easy part, but following through, that's where we learned how to manage our urges. We learned how to get comfortable feeling emotions and not needing to spend them away with retail therapy and things like that. So that's where a lot of the deeper work happens where we can really set ourselves up to be able to build in the long term because you now know how to manage your emotional mind, your emotions and your mind.

Amelia: So good. You know, I think this translates to less clutter, because when you're not overspending, right, you're not bringing excess things into your house that excite you for a little while and then kind of languish in the corner when your interest or your attention has turned to something else. So, so good. I think this all, I'm guessing, happens inside of your Wealthy Woman's Academy group program if you want to tell us a little bit about that.

Germaine: Thank you. Yes. So I have a program, it's called the Wealthy Woman's Academy. It's kind of a hybrid coaching program. It's 12 months, which is the perfect amount of time to change your financial life. You think about how long you've been handling your money, the way you've been handling it, it's been decades. And that's not going to change overnight. 

And so I want to give women plenty of time to progress, to make mistakes, and I wanna be in their corner the entire time, helping them to get back on track, helping them when they have a challenge. So the way it works is you sign up and immediately you get four kickoff sessions. 

So you and me, we're on the phone and we're getting you all set up. We're doing your values, we're figuring out your values, your goals, we're getting your spending audit, your three bucket system, that's what we work on, those four sessions, those kickoff sessions.

And then for the remainder of the time, you get one monthly check-in private call with me for 30 minutes and we walk over any challenges you're having. We celebrate progress. I help you to get through any mind that you're getting stuck on. 

And then you also get weekly with the group where we're going to have monthly challenges that are coming soon. I'm so excited about the monthly challenges that we're going to have coming soon, where we're going to be working collectively around money, like saving or paying off, finding money in your life, things like that. And then any coaching that you want to get in the group, can do that as well. 

And you get the Wealthy Woman's Academy course. It's an on -demand online course. As soon as you sign up, you get instant access to binge and just really get a new understanding of building wealth and enjoying life at the same time. So that is the Wealthy Woman's Academy.

Amelia: I love it because it's such a holistic approach. It's both individualized and then you have the education component and then you have the group accountability and connection and relationships that really help you not feel so alone when you're trying to shift into better spending habits and kind of making those personal changes. So, it sounds amazing. Anything else you'd like to share, kind of especially as we're heading into the holiday season?

Germaine: Yes. So I didn't mention that I have a podcast. It's called the Wealthy Woman's podcast. In November, I'll be sharing some of my best holiday tips because we want to get started early, right? You do want to ahead. So start thinking, okay, what, how much do I want to spend this holiday season? 

This is a perfect time to start thinking about that. How much do I want to spend? And actually write a list. Make a list, check it twice and put everybody's name down. Don't be afraid to do this work. And then when it's time to go shopping and to buy, you don't have to worry if you're spending too much. You've already set aside an amount of money and you know exactly how much you want to spend and just allow yourself to stay within that set boundary. And I believe 100 % that you can do it. You can. And listen to the podcast. Like I said, in November, we'll have some holiday episodes for you all.

Amelia: Amazing because yes, again, back to those money stories, there's part of us that says like, it's about the amount that we spend, but really that's all fake and false. It's really about the intention and the thought behind the gift giving. And when you're spending within your means and spending from a place of love and intention, I imagine that you're spending with them. It just really comes across in the act of giving. 

So thank you so much for sharing that pre-work that you recommend folks do to set themselves up for success.

Germaine: Absolutely. And I love how you added that that's one of the first things that you do is you set the intention. Like, why are you giving anyway? It's out of love. It's in the spirit of the season. And you want to share and show your appreciation and love for others. But that doesn't mean you have to not appreciate yourself in the process. 

So one of the things I teach around holiday spending is to also appreciate yourself and think about your future self who's gonna have to wake up in January and have a financial hangover. So let's appreciate and love it all.

Amelia: Love it, love it. So Germaine, what is one way, maybe a creative way, you employ organization now as an adult?

Germaine: Yes. So I'm no longer tucking things under the beds or in closets. Actually, now we have one of those beds that, you know, you can't even put a skirt around it. So I can't hide anything under there if I wanted to. So honestly, I feel like what I shared with you all around the three bucket system, that is my most creative way of being organized financially. 

But in my life, I've become the kind of person who knows how to compartmentalize things. So instead of letting myself get overwhelmed with maybe a to -do list, I love to sit down and say, okay, Monday I'm doing this, Tuesday I'm doing this. Like I give myself the ability to kind of separate all of my tasks out. And whenever my brain wants to, you know, get overwhelmed about all the things I can say, “Hey, we're worrying about that. Remember that task is going to get taken care of on Wednesday.” 

And it just has given me so much mental space and freedom to not have to think about when everything's going to get done. And so there you go.

Amelia: So good, such a great tip for task management because when you divide it up over the course of the week, right, again, you're staying out of that overwhelm, but you're knowing deep down on Thursday, I'm gonna take care of this hard thing, you know, on Tuesday, I'm gonna check these couple of things off the list. And so that voice that always creeps in that says, "I should be worrying about this." You can kind of gently put that to rest because it's on the calendar and it's getting taken care of, just like the spending plan.

Germaine: Yes.

Amelia: Thank you so much for chatting with me, Germaine. I'd love for you to share how folks can listen to the podcast, read your blog, and connect with you and learn more about the Wealthy Woman's Academy.

Germaine: Yes. So my podcast is called the Wealthy Woman's podcast. You can find anywhere you listen to podcasts. And then I have a free training that I would love to invite your listeners to take. It's called “How to build wealth without going on a strict budget.” And they can find it by going to germainefoley.com/wealth class. And that's it.

Germaine: I will be giving you all of those links, Amelia, so you can link to those in the show notes if you would like.

Amelia: Absolutely, we definitely will. Well, have an amazing rest of your day.

Germaine: You too, thank you.

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